Phoenix Ashes
by Sora Blade707
Summary: Rebirth is a popular MMORPG with state of the art virtual reality technology. Arthur and Francis are two players who stumble upon something that makes them reconsider Rebirth being just a game. AU, full summary inside, USxUK, FraCan
1. GAME 1: Login

**Title:** Phoenix Ashes (1/?)  
**Series:** Hetalia  
**Rating:** T  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the plot.  
**Warnings:** Boy love, language, AU, France in general

**Pairings:** America x England, France x Canada, maybe others  
**Summary:** _Rebirth_…that is the name of the popular MMORPG. It uses state of the art virtual reality technology and makes it feel like you really are inside the game. The world of _Rebirth_ is set during medieval times and players can choose various ways of customizing their characters to make them unique. There are also a wide variety of classes to choose from, and, although they are all different, there is only one thing in common: _Summons_. _Summons_ are creatures that protect the player during the game, granting various stat boosts and an elemental advantage to the player's opponent. The species and element vary from person to person, though nobody knows how the _Summons_ are chosen.

Still…there's something about _Rebirth_ that makes it dangerous to play, yet the players are blissfully unaware of this fact. Two players stumble across this truth and almost end up dead, both virtually and in the real world. Do they have the courage and tenacity to unveal the truth about this game?  
**A/N: **…Damn my easily inspired mind. Loosely based on Loveless and .hack. And…holy crap, that's a long summary. O_o Also…trying (and possibly failing) at using British spelling, mainly because of the POV I'm using. Try not to kill this poor American too hard.

*

Rebirth…_A fantasy game a friend of mine suggested to me. He wouldn't have suggested it to me if he hadn't thought I'd be interested. Francis knew how much I hated playing games. I hadn't touched a game in many years. They held too many memories for me. Memories I wanted to forget. Even a game I've never played before reminded me of _that time_._

_Anyway, Francis thought that if I played this game, I'd get over that event. The event and the person I've wanted to forget about. He was only trying to help, and I knew he was getting frustrated with my reluctance to so much as _look_ at a game. I felt guilty, but…_his _death just kept lingering in anything I played. It…I couldn't help it._

_Still…_

_For the sake of _his _memory, I would give gaming one last shot._

~*~*~*

**_G.A.M.E. 1: Login_**

~*~*~*

Arthur glared at the box he held in his hands, as if it had caused him a major offence just by being there. He tore it open, dumping the contents on his bed. It held an instruction manual; a CD case that seemed like it could hold four disks in it; a VR (virtual reality) visor, and the chords needed to connect it to the computer. The Briton sighed and ran his fingers through his pale blond hair.

_What the bloody hell am I getting myself into?_ He thought as he picked up the CD case. Arthur opened it up and saw four disks, but only one of them was the actual play disk. The blond shook his head and turned on his computer. He opened the disk tray, popped in the first installation disk, and waited for that one to finish installing. While Arthur waited, he started to connect the VR visor to his computer. As soon as the blond was done connecting the visor, the installation for disk one was finished. Arthur then switched that disk out for the second one. He glanced at the instruction manual and sighed. What could it hurt if he learned more about the game? It would at least make him less of a newb than the norm. The blond picked up the instruction manual, skimmed the table of contents, and went to the directions. He could honestly care less about the history behind the game.

When Arthur was done memorizing the button controls, his computer had finished with disk two and was waiting for disk three. He switched the disks and looked up the classes for the game. The Briton raised a bushy eyebrow at the ten different classes he would have to choose from. Arthur skipped over the warrior classes, focusing solely on the three mage classes.

**_Sacred_**

_They are chosen by the Goddess to spread her teachings and heal others. Sacreds also use holy magic and are the best support units in Rebirth._

The blond Briton snorted and skipped that class after reading the first two sentences. There was no way he was going to be a wimpy _cleric_. The other class was some sort of shaman. Arthur had read the description, but he didn't feel like it was the class for him. That left only one class left. He sighed and started reading about it.

_**Element Dancer**_

_These mages are able to control a little of each element, but their strength lies in the element they were born under. Element Dancers are able to learn healing arts, just like Sacreds. However, it is suggested that only Water, Earth, and Spirit Dancers strengthen these arts. At level ten, an Element Dancer has the choice of specializing in any weapon, but they can only choose one._

That class interested Arthur, so he wrote down the class name. He glanced at the computer screen. It still wasn't done installing, so the Briton decided to read a little of the other classes in the game. When he was finished, a pop-up had come on the screen. It was asking for the play disk. Arthur switched them out, and then it asked him if he wanted to play _Rebirth_ now. He hesitated before clicking yes.

The registration page had an elaborate background, which was expected. It depicted some sort of temple, but it looked old and forgotten. The temple was in deep shadow and the time seemed to be night. There was no moon, but the stars dotted the sky faintly. It was mysterious, and Arthur grudgingly admitted that it intrigued him.

When it asked him for the registration key, Arthur absently typed it in. Afterward, he was asked for a username and password. That made him pause. The Briton hadn't thought about a name or even a password. It took Arthur ten minutes to settle on a name and he typed that in first. Luckily, nobody had taken it. That still left the question of what his password would be. The blond sighed. He hesitated and then typed in the only thing he could think of.

_At least it accepted the password._ Arthur thought as his computer processed the information. When it finished, it asked what class he wanted and what his sign was. Arthur put in _Element Dancer_ and selected "Pisces" from the drop-down menu for his sign. Afterward, he pressed submit and waited a little while for the game to process the information. When it was done, Arthur slipped on his visor, typed in his username and password, and then hit the login button.

At first, all the Briton could see was black. When his vision cleared, he couldn't help the awed gasp that had left his lips. The town was made completely out of stone blocks and there was a wide river that cut across half of the town. The sun was sinking, yet it still played across the surface of the water beautifully. Arthur vaguely recalled reading that this town was called Angel Feather, a place where everything began.

"_Merlin?_ Why am I not surprised? After all, you have no taste in having an _elegant _name, such as mine," a heavy French accent cut across Arthur's thoughts. He turned in a huff toward his French friend. Francis' (_Serenade_ was his character name) choice in character hardly surprised the Briton. The Frenchman had a taste for flashy clothing.

Francis' character was wearing typical Ranger garb, reminding the Briton strongly of someone out of Robin Hood. The only difference was that his colors displayed a wide variety of blues and very light purples. Hell, even his _boots_ were blue! The quiver Francis had was a dark blue color and held at _least_ 40 arrows. He was carrying his longbow casually in his hands, as if it weighed nothing.

It seemed like it was the basic clothing for his character class, which was known as the _Enchanted Arrow_. _Enchanted Arrows_ were able to infuse their magic into their arrows and whatever blade they happened to have on them.

"At least your clothes redeem your name," he continued, his blue eyes gazing appreciatively at the Briton. Arthur fumed at the man. What the bloody hell was his _problem?_ At least he was _playing_ the damn game! Still, the Briton couldn't help but look at his own clothing.

The clothing Arthur's character had was definitely exotic. His shirt was made of pale blue silk, but the long sleeves were see-through and loose, only to cling snugly around his wrists. The shirt's opaque nature stopped at the base of his ribcage, where the see-through material clung like mist to his waist. His pants were the same colour and the silk stopped where his thighs connected to his pelvis. Once again, the translucent fabric covered the rest of his legs loosely, yet they clung snugly to his ankles. This was the normal, basic clothing a _Water Dancer_ had, after all. Still, Arthur blushed and glared at his friend.

"Do shut up! At least I'm playing this game!" the Briton huffed, crossing his arms. Francis grinned and slung his free arm around Arthur's shoulders. The blond Englishman frowned in confusion. He could feel the weight of his friend's arm and the heat that came off of his body. That wasn't sitting right with Arthur. "Wait…this is virtual reality, right? Then, how come I can feel things like I would in the real world?"

"That, _mon ami_, is a very good question, and one that adds to the mystery surrounding _Rebirth_," Serenade replied with a wink, "But first I must tell you what you need to know about this game. For one, I doubt you read up on the _Summons_ each player receives."

Arthur blushed and looked away. He hadn't gotten that far, really. Actually, the Briton hadn't been interested and had skipped that section completely. He didn't think it was an important subject. Somehow, Serenade seemed to understand.

"Look, this is why I'm here to help you get started," the Frenchman told him gently, "Allow me to start off with the basics. A _Summon_ is a creature that protects the player both on and off the battlefield. Their species is chosen according to your personality, and it is the species that decides what element it is. Now, a _Summon's_ element gives you certain stat bonuses. I suppose I should tell you what element gives you which bonus, so I suggest you write this down."

Arthur rolled his eyes. He took off his visor, grabbed some paper, and then pulled out a pen from a drawer. The blond took off the top, scratched it across the paper a little to get the ink running, and then put his visor back on. Arthur motioned for Serenade to continue.

"Fire gives you an increase in physical strength. Water increases your magical strength and magical defence. Air boosts your accuracy and dodge stats. Earth increases your overall HP and physical defence. Finally, Spirit makes the regeneration of HP and Mana a little faster than normal," Serenade listed as the blond Briton wrote as fast as he could in shorthand. The Frenchman grinned, enjoying the torture he was putting Arthur through. _Bastard._ "Anyway, we should go. There's a dungeon here all new players have to go through to get their _Summon_."

The blond Frenchman gave him a mischievous smile. He then started to walk toward the inn that was on the other side of the bridge. Arthur sighed and followed his friend. It wasn't as if he had a choice. Still, the Briton couldn't help but feel excited at what _Summon_ he would get. Arthur just hoped that he didn't get a Fire type.

The inn wasn't anything special. It was a typical medieval inn with long, wood tables, an ordinary innkeeper who worked at the bar, and wood flooring. Arthur was not impressed in the slightest. Strangely enough, Serenade and he were the only players in the inn. The Briton frowned, but he followed his friend to the man at the bar. Arthur assumed that he was the one who was going to give them the "quest." He honestly hadn't been paying attention to what the two were talking about. Whatever Serenade had said, they had both received a skeleton key because of it. Once again, the Briton was stuck following his friend down to the cellar of the inn. Arthur tilted his head in confusion when they found themselves where the alcohol was kept.

"Hidden passageway. That's why we have the keys," Serenade explained abruptly, causing the mage to jump a little. The Frenchman motioned to a bare wall hidden in the shadows of a couple of beer barrels. They walked over to that part of the wall and Arthur noticed a keyhole partially hidden in the darkness. "There are multiple entranceways to the dungeon, but one thing remains the same: no enemies. All we're doing is getting our _Summon_ and leaving. Here, you take this entrance and I'll go look for another one I can use. It's a 'one entrance per person' sort of thing."

Arthur sighed and stuck his key in the hole, turning it until he heard a soft _click_. The wall slid back smoothly and without a sound. He gave his friend one last look before entering the dimly lit passageway. As soon as the Briton was inside, the door had slid shut. Arthur glared at the wall, but kept going. After what felt like five minutes of walking, he was ready to throw in the towel out of annoyance.

_Does this thing _ever _end?!_ The Briton thought in exasperation. He sighed and then noticed that there was a door only a couple metres away. Cautiously, the blond went up to the door and pushed it open. It creaked mournfully, opening up to a circular chamber. A shiver went down Arthur's back when he saw shackles and chains hanging from the walls. It looked more like a dungeon than somewhere that housed a _Summon_.

Something caught his eye. There was an altar in the middle of the room. On top of it, sitting precisely in the middle, was a sphere. It looked like it was made of pure ruby, and seemed as big as an ostrich egg. Arthur made his way over to the orb to take a closer look. His emerald green eyes widened when he noticed that it seemed to glow the closer he got to it. Was this his _Summon_? Arthur gingerly picked up the sphere, cradling it as though it would break if he weren't careful. It felt warm. That was unusual considering it had been in a cold dungeon for who-knew-how-long.

That was when the room started to shake. Arthur almost dropped the ruby orb, but he managed to keep his hold on it. He unconsciously held it close to his chest and turned back to the exit. White noise abruptly filled his vision and all he could hear was an annoying, buzzing sound. When Arthur's vision cleared he gasped. Blocking the exit was something large and serpentine in appearance. His eyes followed that section of the creature's body and gulped.

Coiled in front of him was a snake that would have easily been about as big as a house. Arthur estimated that the reptile's length might have been equivalent to three or four soccer fields. It had wrapped its body around the perimeter of the room, blocking any chance of escape. The majority of its scales were swampy green and the diamond markings were blood red. Its head was shaped almost like a spearhead. The snake hissed angrily, opening its mouth wide. Its monstrous fangs were dripping with venom.

_I…I can't move!_ Arthur was trying desperately to wrench his eyes away from the snake's hypnotic yellow ones. He was shaking out of fear and tightened his hold on the red orb. The snake hissed again and slowly lowered its head. It was getting closer and closer to Arthur. The snake's head was only a metre away from his body when a red flash temporarily blinded them. Arthur closed his eyes and heard an angry hiss from the monster. He cautiously opened his eyes when the light faded, only to find the snake distracted from the human in front of it. It was looking up in the air, hissing angrily at whatever was flying above its head.

"_Inferno!_" a strangely accented voice called out, echoing around the room. Arthur's vision was filled with flames, and he knew no more after that.

* * *

**A/N:** Ahahaha, I should've put this here before. *sweat drop* I'm sorry, guys! I just feel like I needed to clear some things up.

Noise: This is what I'm talking about www dot quasimondo dot com/hydra/sineNoise1 dot jpg


	2. GAME 2: Fight Fire with Fire

**Title:** Phoenix Ashes (2/?)  
**Series:** Hetalia  
**Rating:** T  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the plot.  
**Warnings:** Boy love, language, AU, France in general

**Pairings:** America x England, France x Canada, maybe others  
**Summary:** _Rebirth_…that is the name of the popular MMORPG. It uses state of the art virtual reality technology and makes it feel like you really are inside the game. The world of _Rebirth_ is set during medieval times and players can choose various ways of customizing their characters to make them unique. There are also a wide variety of classes to choose from, and, although they are all different, there is only one thing in common: _Summons_. _Summons_ are creatures that protect the player during the game, granting various stat boosts and an elemental advantage to the player's opponent. The species and element vary from person to person, though nobody knows how the _Summons_ are chosen.

Still…there's something about _Rebirth_ that makes it dangerous to play, yet the players are blissfully unaware of this fact. Two players stumble across this truth and almost end up dead, both virtually and in the real world. Do they have the courage and tenacity to unveal the truth about this game?  
**A/N: **And here I go, continuing on this…thing. Yay. I think I might die, and saying that totally motivates me for some odd reason. O_o Anyway, I'll also be modifying the chapters as we go along, mainly so the story flows a little better.

*

_I didn't remember much of what had happened that day. All I could remember was…the feeling of flames licking at my body. Pain was there, too. Yet, through all of that, I kept hearing a familiar voice whispering words to me. Some were of comfort__, others were said only to encourage me. There was only one phrase that I could completely remember._

"_It's not your time to die, so fight, damn it!"_

~*~*~*

**G.A.M.E. 2: Fight Fire with Fire**

~*~*~*

The dream Arthur had been having was pleasant. He remembered it vividly. A ring of fire surrounded the blond. The floor was cool and looked like polished obsidian. It reflected the light and dancing of the flames. Arthur looked up, but only saw darkness. He felt warmth coming from the fire. It was odd that the Briton wasn't feeling the scorching heat of a real fire. In fact, there wasn't even a hint of smoke. Still, the dancing flames were soothing and hypnotic. Arthur felt drawn to the fire, but he also felt repelled by it. After all, it was fire that had killed the blond's best friend.

"Arthur," a vaguely familiar voice said softly. He wasn't entirely sure if he had even heard the voice. "Arthur…wake up."

The blond Briton muttered something darkly in his sleep and turned on his side, away from the voice. He just wanted to get back to the dream he was having. Arthur hadn't dreamt anything pleasant in at least two years. He heard a sigh, but chalked it down to imagination. The Briton must still be dreaming if he was hearing voices.

"_Hey! I expect you to wake up when I'm talking to you!_" Arthur jumped awake at the shout. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around the room. There was no one around. His gaze trailed over to his computer and found that the screen was a bright, fiery red. Arthur's eyes widened. He hadn't kept the computer on, had he?! That was when he remembered what had happened the other day. Arthur frowned. How had he ended up on his bed if he had been playing _Rebirth_?

"Well, it's about _time_ you woke up! Seriously, I thought I was going to have a _heart attack_ 'cause there was a slight possibility that my _Inferno_ spell had killed both you and that goddamn _tank_ of a snake!" the voice ranted. Arthur felt very confused by the situation. He scratched the back of his head and got up from his bed. The Briton wasn't caring too much about posture as he sat at the computer chair, resting his arms on the desk and cradling his chin upon said arms.

"Who the bloody hell are you? For that matter, why is my computer still on?" Arthur asked peevishly. He was _not_ a morning person. The person in the computer huffed indignantly. Still, there was something very familiar about the voice, but Arthur just couldn't put his finger on it.

"I'm your _Summon_ and I told you to keep your computer on last night! At least you were able to follow them," he (it sounded like a he, anyway) replied a tad cheekily. The Briton felt a headache coming on. He wasn't very good at handling strong personalities as soon as he woke up. Arthur's _Summon_ must have sensed that, since his voice was gentler when he next spoke. "You probably don't remember much of last night anyway. So, I'll start with when you summoned me.

"What basically happened after I used _Inferno_ was that the snake sorta erupted into flames. You were still in the middle, and you looked sorta dazed. That's normal, though! Still, I had to give you protection from the fire or else you would have died, both in the game and in real life. You were still dazed when I managed to get you back to town, and I told you to logout and keep your computer on," Arthur frowned as the memories started to come back to him. Still, there was something bothering him. He sighed and tapped the screen, much to the annoyance of his _Summon_.

"What do you mean I would've died in real life? This is a game, isn't it?" the blond asked, almost scolding his _Summon_. There was silence between the two. Arthur had a feeling that if his _Summon_ had a body, he would be fidgeting as he tried to come up with an answer. The Briton sighed and decided to switch gears. "If you can't answer, then fine. What's your name, anyway?"

Once again, the _Summon_ was silent, but this time it felt like it was out of embarrassment. Arthur waited patiently for him, poking the screen every now and then. He heard the man in his computer (what an awkward thought) cough a little.

"W-well, I've been asleep for so long that…I've forgotten about who I am," he replied, downcast. The blond wasn't expecting that at all. "Um…you wouldn't mind giving me a name…right?"

_He sounds like a lost child._ Arthur thought, almost sympathetically. His emerald eyes softened and he sighed. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought. The accent his _Summon_ had was still bugging him. He knew it, but he couldn't place a finger on it. Arthur looked over to his left and saw the small, silver, bald eagle statue he had received as a gift two years ago. That was when a couple things clicked. For one, his _Summon_ had an American accent. The Briton reached over and touched the eagle's head. Maybe…this was the only way to get over the past. Arthur sighed.

"Alfred," the Briton said softly, "Your name is going to be Alfred."

"Alfred, huh," he replied, trying out the name, "I like it! Oh, and Serenade sent you an email."

The screen flickered from red to his normal desktop. Arthur double-clicked his email icon. He noticed that he only had one new email, and it was from Francis, just like Alfred had stated. The Briton frowned at how short the message was. His French friend loved to take at _least_ a page's worth of text. This time, however, Francis had only sent a short and to the point email.

_Arthur. We need to discuss something. I'll meet you in Angel Feather on the bridge._

"Are we going?" Alfred asked, yet no one was on the screen. The blond Briton merely nodded and double-clicked the _Rebirth_ icon. He put his VR visor on and logged into the game. When Arthur got to the town, the first thing he noticed was the floating, red ball of light in front of him. He blinked as the ball circled around his head in glee.

"Oh, please say you're not a fairy from Legend of Zelda," Arthur semi-joked. The ball stopped in front of his face and _huffed_. It landed on his shoulder and he could have sworn that he felt not only warmth, but also something small and humanoid where the ball was. The Briton glanced down at his shoulder, but couldn't see anything humanoid at all about the ball of light.

"I'm not gonna give you random, useless pieces of information! Sheesh," the American (that was what Arthur assumed, anyway) said indignantly. At least the reference hadn't been lost on him. Arthur smiled a little at his _Summon's_ antics. He was starting to like Alfred's fiery personality. Speaking of, the Briton did have one more question for his _Summon_.

"I forgot to ask this, but what's your element?" Arthur inquired as he walked over to the bridge. This time he didn't have to wait too long for an answer.

"Fire," Alfred replied with pride. The blond Briton sighed in disappointment. His _Summon_ heard the disappointment and predictably took it the wrong way. "Hey, hey! Fire is a good element!"

"Sure, for a warrior class."

"But you get to use a weapon at level ten! Aside from that, I also give you a boost in your Fire and any healing spells you have!" Arthur was about to retort when he spotted Serenade leaning against the bridge's railing. Sitting on the Frenchman's head was a blue ball of light. Alfred had taken himself off of the Briton's shoulder and was floating over toward the other ball. Arthur was surprised to find that he was missing his _Summon's_ warmth.

The two balls were circling each other warmly. It seemed to be that the two knew each other. Arthur honestly wasn't sure what to do or say. He turned to the flashily dressed _Enchanted Arrow_, crossing his arms. What did Serenade want, anyway? The Frenchman noticed Arthur's expression and grinned good-naturedly.

"I see that you have managed to get your _Summon_," Serenade commented warmly as he slung an arm around Arthur's shoulders. He tensed and glared at his friend, who just shrugged it off as if it were nothing. "My _Summon_ is named Matthew, his element is Water, and he's Canadian at that! What of yours? I can tell that your _Summon_ is a Fire element, but other than that…"

"His name is…Alfred and happens to be American," the blond Briton replied softly, looking away. They were silent for a long while. Serenade sighed, breaking the silence. Arthur glanced suspiciously at the Frenchman, only to find a serious expression upon his friend's face.

"So long as it helps you cope, it is fine with me, _mon cher_," he said gently, much to Arthur's embarrassment, "Also, how went getting your _Summon_?"

"I thought you said that there were no monsters in that particular dungeon!" Arthur retorted angrily, getting ready to use a spell of some sort (he honestly didn't care which, so long as it did some damage). Serenade backed up and raised his hands in the "I surrender" position. The Frenchman chuckled nervously as the two _Summons_ returned to their respective players. They gave their players curious looks, unsure as to why Arthur was so angry at Serenade.

"There were not supposed to be any! Wait, you got attacked in there, too?" Serenade asked incredulously. The Briton nodded cautiously. "Huh. So was I! I emailed Kiku about it, since he's been playing this game ever since it was released. Anyway, he suspects that it could be the work of a virus and that we shouldn't worry too much about it."

Arthur sighed and shrugged. There wasn't much they could do about what happened yesterday, then. Since it was the weekend, the two friends had decided to go ahead and level their characters up. The blond Briton had recalled that players could fight other players. They wanted to be prepared for a fight they would have no choice but to participate in.

It took them a few hours to finally get to level eight. Arthur and Serenade were only a little bored by that point. On the plus side, they had gotten a few useful items and some gold. The party had decided to go sell the useless items they had gotten off of the monsters and then grab a couple quests. When they were done selling, Arthur had noticed that they were being followed. The Briton turned around and almost got run over by their stalker.

He had short, spiky, white hair and ruby red eyes glittering with arrogance. The man was wearing an open, white vest and had no shirt underneath. His pants were off-white and a black sash was tied around his waist. The gloves he wore were also black, but there were some tears in the material. Arthur glanced down at the sword the man was carrying in his hands. All he could see of the sword was its ebony-black hilt, although there appeared to be a black opal encrusted on the butt of the hilt. The scabbard was white and had a black eagle etched in the middle of it. He had a feeling that same eagle was also on the back of the other player's vest.

_Oh, lovely. We just had to get approached by a bloody _Blade Brandisher. Arthur thought as he checked the player's name. _Prussia?_ Who in their right mind would call their character _Prussia_? The Briton then noticed that a red ball of light was hovering beside Prussia's head. Alfred was resting on his shoulder and Arthur sensed that his _Summon_ was bristling. The reason why escaped the Briton.

"You! I challenge you to a fight, right here and now!" Prussia declared, pointing at the blond _Water Dancer_. Arthur felt a twitch coming on. The player was headstrong and brash. There was no way he was going to fight that man, especially since he didn't think he could take on a player of the warrior class alone. Arthur glanced down at Alfred, sensing that his _Summon_ was prepared for battle. Hell, it seemed like he _wanted_ to get into a fight with Prussia.

"Uh, no," the Briton replied and turned around. His answer must have shocked the other player, but only for a little while. Arthur was probably only a couple metres away from Prussia when someone shouted for the Briton to get out of the way. He turned and instinctively caught what was thrown at him. It was some sort of tablet with ancient runes inscribed upon its surface. Arthur frowned and looked over toward Prussia, only to see that he had a triumphant expression.

That was when the sky grew dark. Arthur looked around in confusion as the two players were trapped in what appeared to be a dome, but one that was made out of darkness. He flinched when he heard the metallic _hiss_ of a sword leaving its scabbard. Cautiously, Arthur turned back to the other player and saw that Prussia had drawn his sword. A deadly grin was upon his face.

"The tablet you caught? Well, it's a nifty little item called Battle Prophecy. When two players touch it, it automatically places them in a duel. Not only that, but this battle is being broadcasted to any players interested in watching us duke it out," the white-haired menace explained. He then held out his free hand and his _Summon_ landed on his index finger. There was a flash of red light and instead of a floating, red ball, a lion stood beside Prussia. Its mane, the tuft on its tail, and even its eyes were made out of yellow flames. Arthur gulped and took an involuntary step backwards.

_We can take him!_ A voice whispered in Arthur's mind. He almost jumped, but had stopped himself just in time. The voice…was that Alfred whispering to him? Arthur heard the _Summon_ chuckle. Summons_ have a telepathic link to their players. Look, just summon me and beat this guy into next week!_

Alfred was hovering by the blond Briton's left hand. Arthur hesitated before he touched the warm light. It was then that Prussia charged at them, taking advantage of the _Water Dancer's_ hesitation. The blond Briton barely missed getting his head chopped off as he moved to the left. Still, he hadn't escaped unscathed. Prussia's sword managed to cut Arthur's right shoulder. He was surprised at how much it hurt and glanced down at the wound. It wasn't bleeding, thankfully, but his HP did go down a little.

An angry, melodious note rang in the air, and at the same time they heard a roar of pain. The two players looked over toward their _Summons_ and saw that a phoenix was attacking Prussia's lion. Prussia immediately forgot all about Arthur and was running toward his precious companion.

_Now's my chance!_ The blond Briton glanced at his spell list and selected the one that had a blue teardrop as its icon. There were three spells that he knew of in the Water element. That would have to do for now. Arthur glanced at the names and selected the one with a snowflake next to the name.

"_Ice Dust!_" Arthur called out, pointing with his right hand toward his opponents. Shards of ice materialized out of the air in front of his hand, flying straight towards Prussia and his _Summon_. Alfred had taken to the skies when Arthur's attack hit. The two glared at the _Water Dancer_ and were about to rush him when the phoenix started attacking Prussia. Arthur then ran to the left of his opponents, waiting for the cool down to finish.

That was when he heard Alfred cry out in pain. The blond Briton had instinctively closed out of his Water magic menu and went straight into the healing branch. Arthur paused, waiting for his _Summon_ to get away. When Alfred did back off, the blond Briton selected his long-range healing spell. Arthur clutched his heart with his left hand and a whirlwind surrounded him.

"_Healing Wind!_" a gust of wind enveloped the phoenix, recovering a fair amount of his HP. Alfred hummed in relief as he dived toward Prussia's lion. Arthur frowned as he ran behind his opponents. Why wasn't the phoenix using his Fire spells? The Briton shook his head. He would figure that out later. Right now, he had to defeat the upstart player. Arthur went back to his Water spells and selected the one he had learned recently. He hesitated as he read the description of the spell.

_It will take a lot out of my Mana, but I don't really have a choice here._ Arthur took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. He nodded in determination. It took a few seconds for the cool down time to get to zero, but when it did he was almost ready. Arthur pointed towards his two opponents, taking as careful an aim as he could. This would be his last spell until his Mana regenerated substantially. He waited, keeping an eye on Prussia's HP. When it gone down to a quarter left, Arthur used the spell.

"_Geyser!_" a blue ring surrounded Prussia and his _Summon_. On the inside, the ring started to branch off to form a pentagram, and runes were seen here and there inside the points of the pentagram. The earth started to shake, surprising Prussia and the lion. Alfred had backed off and was hovering beside Arthur. Abruptly, water gushed out in a rush from the ring. It lifted their opponents from the ground and catapulted them out of the dome, automatically disqualifying the two losers. Arthur sighed in relief and sank to his knees when the word "Victory" flashed across his screen.

"We were _so_ awesome during that fight!" Alfred commented with laughter. He had reverted to a floating ball again. Arthur gave him a weak smile. The dome collapsed and Serenade was running towards the two, Matthew flying along just behind the Frenchman. Arthur accepted the help up and decided that maybe Alfred wasn't so bad to have as his _Summon_.

* * *

**A/N:** I have to say this. I'm so happy that I get to finally put Prussia into one of my fanfictions~. :) I just hope I don't botch up his personality. ._.


End file.
